Women’s Rugby World Cup: The inquest into Wales’ winless campaign

So that was the story of Wales’ World Cup, three games and three defeats.

After an appalling start, there were improvements as the weeks progressed, but Wales were still desperately left wanting and are now staring down the barrel of an all-time low world ranking of 12th.

But some people ask, why have Wales been so poor?

As a team they have the fourth-highest investment in women’s international rugby with almost 40 full-time professional players, they train at world class facilities, they have doctors, nutritionists and sport psychologists at their disposal.

Lynn himself is a proven winner and while it may not have showed, Wales do have some world class players in their ranks.

But delve a little deeper and you start to see the bigger picture.

While most of the squad ply their trade in England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), few are getting regular game time, which leads to questions over match fitness and sharpness. You can run broncos in the barn all day long, but only minutes truly prepare the players for Test rugby.

Out of the players that do feature, none are captains, none are leaders and that translates into Wales’ game.

With the young co-captains in the pack, who is calling the shots in the backline? Lleucu George is a talent, but has a distinctive lack of voice for a fly-half, the same for those around her.

This is something Lynn said he is looking to address and will be building relationships with PWR clubs to ensure his players are getting opportunities.

Two professional women’s sides, as proposed in the WRU’s current consultation, and Wales’ age grade teams will also play a vital role in getting players ready for international rugby.